What is Pubic Pediculosis?
Pubic lice (phthyriasis) is a parasitic skin disease caused by pubic lice. Pubic louses prefer the genital area (pubis, scrotum, perineum), hair around the anus, and underarms, as these areas contain a large number of apocrine glands, which are specifically targeted to the pubic lice. Less commonly, mustache, eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair on children’s heads are affected.
Causes of Pediculosis Pediculosis
Pubic louse or ploshchitsa (Latin Pthirus pubis) – ectoparasitic insect from the sub-order of lice (Latin Anoplura), living on the human body mainly in the pubic zone, on the genitals, around the anus, less often in other hair-covered areas: in the armpits, on the chest and abdomen, eyebrows, eyelashes, mustache, beard. It feeds exclusively on the blood of its owner. Without food dies within 24 hours. However, outside the human body can fall into anabiosis and stay in it for up to several months. The disease caused by the defeat of this insect is called pubic lice or phthyriasis.
The size of the pubic louse reaches approximately 1-3 mm. Females are 1.5 times larger than males.
The pubic louse lays its eggs at the base of the hair, and itself is attached by a proboscis to the mouths of the hair follicles, usually on the skin of the pubis and scrotum. Infection occurs mainly through sexual contact. Infection through bed linen is possible.
In most cases, pubic lice are transmitted through sexual contact, when insects from one partner crawl over to another.
Also, according to research, the louse, having detached from a person, lives no more than one day, but its larvae remain viable for almost a week. So you can easily get pubic lice through a towel, bedding and clothes. There is also the possibility of infection in the bath, swimming pool, solarium, and even when using a public toilet.
Pubic lice parasitize only on humans; it is absolutely impossible to get them from animals.
Symptoms of Pediculosis Pediculosis
Pubic lice begins with an incubation period when there are no symptoms yet, but pubic lice have already settled on the human body. The incubation period of the pubic pediculosis usually lasts about a month.
After the end of the incubation period, pubic lice shows several symptoms, the most significant of which is pruritus at the site of lice infiltration into the patient’s skin. Most often it is pubis itch, but other parts of the body can also be involved in the process: the hips and torso (especially for people with excessive hair growth), as well as the beard and mustache. The intensity of pruritus can be different: sometimes a person does not even notice it, and sometimes, especially at night, the itch is unbearable. Itching in the area of lesions with pediculosis usually leads to the fact that the patient combs the skin, and because of this, irritation and redness of the skin occurs, eczema appears, and secondary infections penetrate into the body through scratching.
In addition to pruritus, blue or shadow spots with a diameter of up to 1 cm, which quickly disappear, can be considered a sign of pubic lice. The reason for their appearance can be either minor hemorrhages when sucking blood lice, or the deposition of the secret of their salivary glands. Such spots most often appear on the abdomen, chest, side of the body and thighs, that is, where the hair is not thick and the spots are easy to notice.
Sometimes an allergic rash is added to the symptoms of pubic lice. The undoubted sign of pubic lice is the detection of the pubic lice or their larvae on the skin or underwear.
Consequences of pubic lice
By themselves, pubic lice can not bring special harm to the patient with lice, not counting the cases when their discharge causes allergic reactions in the host.
Much more dangerous is that when combing and irritation of the skin, characteristic of pubic lice, the patient’s skin ceases to function as a barrier to infections and the “gate” into the body is open. This is especially true for sexually transmitted infections.
Therefore, all patients with pubic lice should be examined for the presence of syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Diagnosis of Pubic Pediculosis
Diagnosis of pubic lice is not difficult.
Firstly, the patient’s complaints with pubic lice are very characteristic, and secondly, lice or nits are almost always found on the laundry or on the hair in the area of the head lice affected by the pediculosis.
Therefore, the main method of diagnosis of pubic lice is the examination of the patient. Adult parasites can be seen with the naked eye, but more often they use a magnifying glass or a magnifying glass. Slippers are easier to spot after they have drunk blood, which gives them a rusty color.
Sometimes in the affected areas there are particles of rusty color – excrement of lice. However, more often on examination, nits of pubic lice are detected, which are attached to the hair of the affected area with a special “cementing” compound. Externally, the nits on the hair resemble scales with seborrhea, therefore, for accurate diagnosis of the pubic lice, such hair is examined under a microscope. Regular washing with soap and water does not kill the lice and does not relieve nits.
Therefore, for the treatment of pubic pediculosis, special ointments, shampoos or sprays containing insect-killing preparations are used. As a rule, a single dose of the drug is enough. If there are many lice, the patient is advised to shave hair in the affected area of the body. Sometimes in such cases, about a week after the first use of the drug is repeated treatment.
It is important to remember that pubic lice is a sexually transmitted disease, and therefore sexual partners need to be treated at the same time.
Simultaneously with the treatment being carried out, it is necessary to change the underwear and bed linen, and to expose the old linen to boiling or machine washing at the maximum temperature and then iron it on both sides. During treatment, pubic lice and underwear and bed linen are changed daily.
Treatment of Pubic Pediculosis
Treatment of pubic lice local. Apply antiparasitic ointments, creams, solutions and shampoos. In parallel, it is necessary to check if you have another sexually transmitted disease.
Bed and underwear should be carefully washed and ironed.
Pubic hair is usually recommended to shave.
The effectiveness of the treatment of pubic lice is very high with all the rules.
It should also be remembered that it is necessary to thoroughly process clothes, bedding, upholstered furniture, and mattresses, since when in contact with them a cured person falls ill again.
How is pubic lice treated
The main drugs used to treat pediculosis
Medipox (emulsion) – add 4 ml of 5% solution to 100 ml of water – to obtain a 0.2% solution, apply the prepared emulsion to hair and rinse off after 20 minutes (from 30 to 100 ml per treatment).
Medifox – (super emulsion) – add 0.5 ml of the solution to 50 ml of water to obtain 0.1% emulsion, apply the prepared mixture to the hair for 15-20 minutes and then rinse with warm water (from 30 to 100 ml per treatment).
Nittifor (solution) – Rubbed undiluted into the scalp for 40 minutes, repeated treatment after a week (30 ml per treatment).
Veda -2 (shampoo) – Rubbed undiluted into the scalp for 10 minutes (30 ml per treatment).
Pedillin (emulsion and shampoo) – The emulsion is evenly applied to dry hair, lightly rubbed and covered with a cotton cloth and after 30 minutes, washed off with water, then shampoo is applied for 3 minutes and washed off, washing with shampoo is repeated 2 times (30 ml per treatment).
Vitar (soap) – Hair soaped for 20 minutes, then washed off with a warm wave. The treatment is repeated after a week (5 – 10 grams per treatment).
Prevention of Pubic Pediculosis
The main method of prevention of pubic lice is the early diagnosis of pubic lice and the treatment of patients and their sexual partners. This prevents pediculosis from spreading further.
In order not to catch headache, doctors advise to be more discriminating during sexual intercourse (however, this recommendation applies to all sexually transmitted diseases – STDs.
In addition, you must follow simple rules of personal hygiene: bedding and underwear should be clean, when forced to stay in hotels of dubious cleanliness it is better to use your bed linen, after sex you should take a shower and so on.
At the slightest sign of the appearance of lice, you should consult a dermatovenerologist, who will make the correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment.